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Article: Mounting debt: the long economic boom enabled school districts nationwide to fund expensive reforms and hefty pay raises. Now, however, they are finding it nearly impossible to cut costs and balance their budgets. What makes it so tough for districts to downsize?(forum)
- Article from:
- Education Next
- Article date:
- January 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Hoover Institution Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In April 2003,Joseph Olchefske, a nationally recognized reformer, announced his intention to resign as superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools. Surprisingly, given his background in investment banking and his previous experience as the school district's chief financial officer, Olchefske was felled by a financial crisis. In the fall of 2002, the school district had discovered an unexpected $23 million deficit for the previous fiscal year. The district was on track to ledger another $12 million deficit for the 2002-03 fiscal year.
About a month later, Dennis Chaconas was fired as superintendent of the Oakland, California, public schools. New software, ...